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Yes, there were plenty of reasons why the Hornet basketball repeated as District 6-4A champions: hard work, desire, intensity, coaching, off-season.
But coach Eddy Prather said the primary reason was a group of seniors, seven of them to be exact. After Azle (25-4, 13-1) had taken care of Springtown 72-46 (in a game delayed a day by weather) then trounced visiting Mineral Wells 58-39 in the final home game Feb. 16, Prather said much of the success of the 2009-10 season belonged to an AHS septet. “They have been such an awesome group,” Prather said. “They were my first four-year group and they’ve been a joy to coach and be around. “They took care of things like grades and discipline so we could concentrate on basketball. A lot of the credit to our success goes to them.”
The elite seven: Joe Richards, Jimmy Walter, Kellen Myers, Kyle Meyer, Tyler Holly, Jared Darnell, and Nathaniel Shaffer. A sophomore, Drew Charles, lit up Springtown with 25 points and Mineral Wells with 26. Richards scored 20 against the Porcupines while Jake Zuilhof got all 12 of his points in the second quarter. Walter led AHS in steals, assists, rebounds, and blocks at the Springtown gym. The Hornet defense limited the visiting Rams to just 26.2 percent field goal shooting. Prather said, “Our goal was to repeat as district champs, go back-to-back. Now our goal is to reach the regional tournament. We need three to get there.” |
